Whenever we come across an appealing fish recipe or look at the choices at the fish market or on a restaurant menu, we check Seafood Watch to see if the species is an “Avoid” or a “Best Choice.”

Seafood Watch is a service of the Monterey Bay (California) Aquarium, dedicated to helping preserve the oceans’ fish supplies. It monitors which species are endangered (overfished to very low levels) and to be avoided, and which are a “Good Alternative” or a “Best Choice.”

To see what’s sustainable, head to Seafood Watch.com.
When we received the swordfish recipe below from one of our favorite Top Chef alumni, Fabio Viviani, we headed to Seafood Watch. Here’s the chart we checked:

So our tip of the day is: Make Seafood watch a go-to resource. You can check it online or with an iStore app.

Now onto Chef Viviani’s Swordfish Livornese, swordfish Livorno-style.

WHAT’s LIVORNESE?

Livorno is a Tyrrhenian Sea port on the western coast of Italy: a large span of water with Sicily to the south; Basilicata, Calabria, Campania, Corsica, Lazio, Sardinia and Tuscany to the east on the Italian mainland; and the islands of Corsica and Sardinia to the west.

Livornese sauce, a regional specialty, combines tomatoes, olives and capers. Added to fish fillets or fish steaks, it’s an easy and healthful dish with lots of flavor.

You can substitute any firm-fleshed fish, such as cod, grouper or red snapper; or use chicken or tofu. Chef Viviani likes swordfish because it is a lean fish but has a good fat content.

This recipe serves 4.

Ingredients

You can get this leaping swordfish as free wallpaper from AnimalsTown.com.

*Avoid cooking with extra virgin olive oil: It has a low smoke point. Use regular oil, labeled simply “olive oil,” for cooking.

Preparation

1. HEAT the olive oil in a pan very quickly, over a medium fire.

2. SAUTÉ the shallots until completely caramelized. Add the cherry tomatoes, olives, capers and tomato sauce, plus salt and pepper to taste. Reduce for 5 minutes.

3. RUB the swordfish steaks on both sides with olive oil and season them with salt and pepper to taste. Sear the fish in a frying pan.

4. PLACE the fish in an oven pan (or use the frying pan if it is oven-safe) and cover with half of the sauce. Bake in the oven at 425°F for 10-15 minutes, until the fish is done and flaky.

5. TOP with remaining sauce and basil and enjoy!
See Chef Viviani in action on the television program “Home & Family,” on the Hallmark Channel.

Find more of our favorite fish recipes.

To take the chill off, chef Johnny Gnall explores Mexican hot chocolate. If you’d like him to address specific foods or topics, email Chef Johnny.

There are numerous artisan and gourmet hot chocolate mixes available from American and European producers.

But something old is trending anew: Mexican hot chocolate. I’ve been seeing the flavors of Mexican chocolate in magazines and on menus more and more. Having a ton of family in Mexico, the combination of cinnamon, chiles and chocolate is one I have been quite fond of since childhood.

Particularly nostalgic for me is the gritty, grainy texture of authentic, traditional Mexican chocolate: a result of its minimal processing (and the way the first chocolate bars were produced back in 1847, in England).

Instead of conching into the smooth, silky chocolate we know today, Mexican chocolate is ground with a stone wheel.

DON’T TAKE A BITE!

You wouldn’t want to bite into a disk of authentic Mexican chocolate: It’s too gritty. That’s because its traditional use is to be melted into milk or water to make the drink we commonly call hot chocolate. Mesoamericans have been enjoying the chocolate drink since around 1900 B.C.E.!

This rustic style of chocolate has been updated for modern palates by Taza Chocolate, an artisan chocolatier in Somerville, Massachusetts. Chocolate with an attractive grittiness is available in stone ground chocolate bars as well as discs to be melted into Mexican hot chocolate. Check out the wares at TazaChocolate.com.

If you want to make Mexican hot chocolate at home (it’s called taza de chocolate in Mexico), my brand recommendation is the Mexican-made Ibarra. It tastes exactly like the stuff I drank as a child in Mexico: sugary sweet and comfortingly warm. And it’s the most readily available brand in supermarkets (check the Mexican foods department; you can find it in any Latin American market or online).

MEXICAN HOT CHOCOLATE RECIPE

 
Water makes a thinner, more refreshing (and authentic) cup; milk of any kind (including nonfat) makes a thicker, richer cup.

MEXICAN HOT CHOCOLATE RECIPE

 
Preparation

1. GRATE a disc of Mexican chocolate with a cheese grater, microplane or rasp. Set aside. While it’s not essential to grate the chocolate before melting it into the liquid, grated chocolate melts faster and is less likely to burn on the bottom of the sauce pan.

2. ADD optional seasonings and spices, including sweetener, if you’re using unflavored Mexican chocolate: grated almonds and/or chiles and cinnamon powder are traditional, but you can get creative (anise, cardamom and so forth).

3. HEAT the water or milk in a deep saucepan to just below boiling. Remove the pan from the heat and whisk the grated chocolate into the liquid.

4. STIR vigorously to dissolve the chocolate and prevent the chocolate from sticking to the bottom of the pan. (The classic Mexican tool is not a whisk but a molinillo, invented in Spain in the 1500s.)

5. ADD any liquids, from vanilla extract (if disc does not contain vanilla) to bourbon, rum or tequila.

WHIPPING UP A RECIPE WHEN YOU DON’T HAVE MEXICAN CHOCOLATE

You can use regular chocolate. If the chocolate is unsweetened or a very high percentage of cacao (80% or more), you’ll need to add some sweetener.

1. SIMMER a quart of milk in a saucepot.

2. ADD 1 cup of roughly chopped or shaved semisweet chocolate or chocolate chips, whisking to melt and dissolve into the milk.

3. ADD a cinnamon stick, broken in half, and one chile de arbol, also torn in half. Whether or not you use the seeds of the chile is up to you, depending on your spice preference (seeds and inner membranes, not the flesh, contain the majority of heat).

4. STEAM, but not reduce, for 15-30 minutes, then strain to serve.
 
This is a very basic recipe, so once you try it, feel free to add more or less of any ingredients to your liking. Just remember to add it in very small amounts.
Mexican chocolate is an easy and delicious drink for dinner parties, camping, or just a cozy night it. You can make it a little more adult with a shot of Kalhúa or Grand Marnier, or drop a scoop of vanilla ice cream in for the kids. Everyone can get on board with the flavor combination that’s been warming palates and bellies for nearly 4,000 years!

While the classic flavors are cinnamon and vanilla, modern artisans such as Taza Chocolate make a variety of flavors. Here, orange cinnamon. There’s also a seasonal egg nog chocolate disk. Photo courtesy TazaChocolate.com.

MORE WAYS TO ENJOY MEXICAN CHOCOLATE

Beyond melting into hot chocolate, the combination of earthy cacao, sweet sugar, spicy cinnamon and warm chiles of Mexican chocolate is a flavor profile that works in a myriad of desserts.

I have sampled Mexican chocolate in a pot de crème at a fine restaurant; I have slurped Mexican chocolate popsicles and chomped through countless artisan interpretations of Mexican chocolate bars and chocolate cupcakes.

One of my favorite uses of these exhilarating flavors was in a cinnamon and chocolate lava cake belying a molten chocolate center spiced with fruity chiles. (Yes, chiles/chilies/chillis are a fruit—albeit a very hot and spicy one—the difference between fruits and vegetables.)

There are few dessert applications that won’t be deliciousness with Mexican chocolate. So if you’re a baking enthusiast, try spicing up your next foray into chocolate with a pinch of cinnamon and a chili or two. Remember to be sparing with the cinnamon and taste discerningly: A little can go a long way and you don’t want it to be heavy handed.

The same goes for the chiles. Rich, earthy chocolate is a fantastic background for these more fiery elements, and in the right balance, the taste experience will blow you away.

MORE HOT CHOCOLATE MAGIC

Frizzled onions are a delicious garnish on just about anything. Photo courtesy Silk Road Palace | New York City.

Onion rings are a calorie splurge, not including all the sugar- or worse, the high fructose corn syrup-laden ketchup they’re topped with.

But you can enjoy a few “frizzled onions,” thin shoestring slices, with less guilt. As a garnish atop fish, poultry, meat or garnish, they satisfy that craving more economically than a large side of onion rings.

If you want to make this recipe less spicy, cut back on the black pepper, cayenne and chili powder.

FRIZZLED ONIONS RECIPE

Ingredients

1. HEAT oil to 375°F in a deep fat fryer or heavy stockpot.

2. SLICE onion rings thinly, ideally using a mandoline or vegetable slicer.

3. PLACE onion rings in a large bowl, separated; cover with buttermilk.

4. COMBINE flour, salt, black pepper, cayenne, and 1/2 teaspoon of paprika in a medium bowl.

5. DRAIN onions from buttermilk and dredge in the seasoned flour. Shake off excess flour.

6. DEEP-FRY until crisp and golden, about 2 minutes. Drain on paper towels.

7. SPRINKLE with remaining paprika. You can serve the frizzled onions immediately, or keep at room temperature for a few hours.

Happy birthday, Elvis!

While Elvis Presley is not exactly known for being a foodie, we, along with millions of fans worldwide, celebrate his birthday with a few hours of Elvis tunes and his favorite snack food: a fried sandwich filled with peanut butter, sliced bananas and bacon. Here’s the “Elvis Sandwich” recipe.

This year, we’re adding something to the menu courtesy of chef Anthony Zamora of Atrio restaurant, located in the soaring 15-story atrium lobby of the Conrad Hotel in New York City.

While Chef Zamora makes peanut gelato from scratch, you can use peanut or vanilla ice cream (the difference between ice cream and gelato).

Chef Zamora garnishes the sundae with caramelized bananas, peanut brittle, Marshmallow fluff and Nutella. We substituted caramelized (candied) bacon for the Fluff and the Nutella. There’s no reason why you can’t have it all

SALTED PEANUT GELATO RECIPE

Ingredients Per Sundae

Just-steamed Dungeness crabs. Photo by
Ken Ishirotie | IST.

But the current cause for celebration is that Dungeness crab season has begun. Chefs across the country are cooking up this West Coast delicacy. If you’re a crab lover, make plans to get your share; and if you have a good local fish market, you can cook them at home.

Dungeness crab has been compared by some to the Maine lobster in flavor, but the meat is more tender. The meat is perhaps the sweetest of the Pacific crabs, flavorful and a bit nutty. Perhaps it’s so sweet and tender because of its fine diet: It enjoys clams, other crustaceans and small fish.

The crab variety is named after the seaport of Dungeness, Washington, but is found all along the Pacific coast from the Aleutian Islands of Alaska to Santa Cruz, California. Its Latin name, Cancer magister, means “master crab” because it can measure as wide as 10 inches. Only male crabs with shells measuring 6.25 inches across or larger may be harvested. A single crab in a good season like this one can weigh two pounds!

According to the Oregon Dungeness Crab Commission, Dungeness crabs molt between June and August and spend the next few months eating and filling up their new shells. The crab’s meat-to-shell ratio is tested, and once it’s high enough for a consistent, high-quality product, the season is opened for commercial fishing. Male crabs are about four years old before they are large enough to be harvested.

In San Francisco, “Dungeness crab season is like Christmas for adults,” Matt Violante, general manager of Alioto’s restaurant, told Nation’s Restaurant News. “Everyone calls to ask when we’re going fishing, when the season starts,” so they can book a table.

While a favorite preparation is simply to steam the large crab legs and claws and dip the meat in melted butter, you can prepare anything from Dungeness crab cakes and crab fritters to Dungeness crab mac and cheese and cioppino, an Italian version of bouillabaisse made with seafood in a spicy tomato broth.

Then there are Dungeness crab casseroles, Dungeness crab mousse, Dungeness crab sandwiches on grilled ciabatta or other bread, and Dungeness crab-stuffed ravioli in caper butter sauce. Dungeness crab bisque with large chunks of crab leg meat is a tasty way to start the meal.

For us, the freshly-steamed crab meat is best absolutely plain, without covering up the flavor and texture nuances that make it such a treat. We don’t even need butter.

Dungeness crab claws and legs marinated with cilantro, garlic, parsley and olive oil and sautéed. Photo courtesy MarxFoods.com.

These recipes can be used in any season with any type of crab.

 
Find many more Dungeness crab recipes from the Oregon Dungeness Crab Commission.

CRAB MEAT 101: A CRAB-BUYING LESON

Now, about crab meat in general: Do you need to spring for the costliest, jumbo lump crab meat? Not unless you’re entertaining people you really want to impress, who will know the difference.

Here’s the way to decide among the grades of crab.